Netflix is set to launch 40 anime shows this year, double the number it released in 2020. The announcement was made at Tokyo’s AnimeJapan 2021 Expo Saturday and comes on the heels of the successful launch of “Blood of Zeus” last year, which is ranked among Netflix’s 10 most-watched series in about 80 countries.
With the North American streaming market reaching a point of over-saturation, Netflix is making a push to tap into the fast-growing Asian audience with new original content.
“We want to be able to pride ourselves as being the top entertainment destination with good quality content,” Taiki Sakurai, Netflix’s chief anime producer, told Bloomberg. “The growth of our business is directly connected to the growth of our anime.”
“One of Netflix’s biggest advantages over its competitors is generating local, original content based on its extensive user data,” said Pooh Chuang, an analyst at Taiwan-based President Capital Management Corp. “Doubling down on original anime will help this localization campaign and strengthen its users’ attachment to Netflix.”
Some of the new anime titles launching this year include “Yasuke,” about a legendary African samurai in Japan, an adaptation of the Japanese manga Record of Ragnarok, and “Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness,” based on the Japanese video game franchise.